Hand grenade and fuse therefor



Oct. 1, 1946. E, M, SHI'NKL 2,408,486

HAND GRENADE AND FUSE THEREFOR Filed March28, 1945 INVENTOK Patented Oct. 1, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

:2 Claims.

'This invention relates'to a new and improved hand grenade and more particularly to a grenade of this character havinga fuse adapted to operate upon impact to explode or detonate the charge in the grenade.

Grenades as generally constructed are provided with time or delay fuses set in'operation by the thrower of the grenade. Usual types of fuses function upon the release of a lever or handle to start thefuse action prior to or upon throwing the grenade. These constructions have the objection that the delay action of the fuse may be sufficient to permit persons at whom the grenade is thrown either to throw back the grenade or to dispose of it prior to the explosion. If the user of the grenade attempts to avoid this by holding the grenade for a period of time after the fuse starts to function, there is danger of holding it too long or from an abnormally short time element in the fuse.

It is an object of the present invention toprovide an improved grenade and fuse therefor adapted to function uponimpact.

It is a further object to provide a device of this character which is "safe to handle and to throw and which will explode upon impact regardless of the position in which it may falland of the nature of the material'stopping its flight.

Itis also an object to provide'a grenade and fuse'therefor-which are simple in design and construction and adapted for commercial production.

Other and further objects will appear as the description proceeds.

I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention in the accompanying drawing in which the single figure is a vertical cross section through the grenade and fuse,

In the drawing the body of the grenade has been shown at i, this body being provided with ribs 2 which enable the user to get a better grip thereon or to prevent slipping in the hand when wet or muddy. These ribs or other suitable configuration may also increase the efiiciency of the fragmentation of the body when the grenade explodes. The lower portion of the body I is provided with a threaded opening 3, closed by a plug 4, bearing against the gasket 5. This opening 3 through opening 3 after installation of the fuse.

The fuse assembly comprises a housing 1 which is screwed into threaded opening 6 and has a shoulder 8 bearing'against the gasket 9. The intermediate member I 0 of the fuse assembly is threaded onto the lower end of the housing 1 and is provided with a conical seat I opposite a similar seat 12 formed in the lower portion of the housing 1.

Themovable operating portion of the fuse comprises the ball portion l3 having the threaded stem l4 upon which the weight I5 is firmly screwed. The upper portion of the weight I5 has a tapered surface It to permit greater angular displacement of the weight in the cavity I! of the fuse housing 1. It will be apparent that the ball portion It! forms 'a ball and socket joint with the conical seats H and i2, its angular displacement being limited by engagement of the weight 55 with the walls of the cavity H.

The open end of cavity l7 isnormally closed by the cap l8, having the lug l9 fitting into the bore 25) in the upper end of the weight I5. The compression spring 2| is fitted into bore 20 and engages lug l9 to urge the cap l8 upward to free theweight IS. The fuse is provided with the safety wire 22 passing through aligned openings in the housing Land .Qap I8 to retain the cap in place against the pressure of spring 2 i. The pull ring 23 is connected to the safety wire 22 for use in removing the wire. The cap I 8 is shown as provided with a concave outer face to facilitate holding it in place by means of the thumb or finger after the safety wire has'been withdrawn.

The ball portion I3 has a cylindrical recess formed therein to receive the ampule 24 which is cemented in place therein. The ampule is made of glass or similar acid resistant and readily frangible material. The ampule 24 is of such size as to clear the circular shoulder 25 at the lower edge of the conical seat I I.

The washer 26 is seated in a recess formed in the intermediate member ID below the shoulder 25. This washer 2B is formed of sponge rubber, felt or other relatively soft and pliable material and fits closely about the ampule 24. Its primary function is to retain in place the chemicals 21 in the cavity 28 in the lower end of intermediate member ID and to prevent them from working up into the ball and socket joint during transportation or movement of the device. The washer 26 has the secondary function of forming a soft bed for the ampule 24 while at the same time not being sufficiently rigid to materially restrain aeoaese movement of the ampule when the ball and socket joint is freed for operation of the fuse.

The lower end of the intermediate member ID has the closing plug 29 threaded thereon, the joint being provided with the gasket 30. The detonator 3| i held upon the plug 29 by means of the cup 32 which is peened or staked to the plug.

While my construction of grenad and fuse can be used with various types of chemical igniters and detonators, it has been found that a suitable mixture for the ampule 24 comprises approximately 75 parts of sulphuric acid and 25 parts of orthonitrotoluene. The chemicals in'dry powdered form at 27 may comprise a mixture of approximately 55 parts of potassium chlorate and 45 parts lead sulphocyanate. When the liquid from the ampule comes in contact with the powdered chemicals, the reaction is such as to ignite the priming in the upper part of the detonator. The priming in turn ignites the initiator such as lead azide or fulminate of mercury immediately adjacent the priming in the detonator. The detonator sets off the explosive filling the grenade and causes it to explode or detonate depending H on its character.

In use, the grenade is grasped in the hand with a thumb or finger holding the cap is firmly in place against the spring 2! while the safety wire is Withdrawn by means of ring 23. The grenade is then thrown to hit as nearas possibl to the point where theexplosion is desired. While in the hand of the thrower the grenadeis safe as long as the cap 18 is held in place since the lug l9 remains engaged in its socket in weight 15 to restrain the Weight against lateral swinging movement. As soon as the grenade leaves the throwers hand, the spring 2i ejects the cap I8 and thus leaves the weight l and the ball l3 carrying ampule 25 free to move until the weight strikes the wall of the bore ll. When the grenade strikes any solid object the weight will swing to its limit of movement, striking the ampule against the shoulder in the intermediate member I9.

The breaking of the ampule 24 against shoulder 25 releases its contents upon thechemicals at 2,1 and the reaction causes the explosion to take place immediately. The sensitivity of the mechanism can be controlled within limits by varying v the size of the weight l5, the strength of the ampule 24, the diameter of the balland socket joint and the efiective lever arms.

While I have shown .a preferred embodiment iii) of my invention, it is to be understood to be illustrative only as it is capable of modification and change to meet varying conditions and requirements within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a grenade or the like, a grenade body, a fuse assembly fitted therein, the assembly comprising a housing member and an intermediate member having opposed seat formed therein, a ball fitted on said seats, a weight secured to the ball, the housing member having a cavity formed therein enclosing the weight and permitting limited movement thereof, a removable closure for the cavity engaging the Weight and preventing movement thereof, a frangible ampule secured to the ball normally spaced from adjacent fixed portions of the fuse, chemical means in the ampule and additional chemical means carried adjacent the ampule, the two chemical means when brought into contact serving to initiate an explosion of the grenade, the size relationship between the weight and its enclosing cavity being such that the weight upon release may move sufficiently to swing the ampule against adjacent fixed portions of the fuse and break the ampule to release its contents.

2. In a grenade or the like, a grenade body, a fuse assembly fitted therein, the assembly comprising a housing member and an intermediate member having opposed seats formed therein, a ball fitted on said seats, a weight secured to the ball, the housing member having a cavity formed therein enclosing the weight and permitting limtied movement thereof, a cap closing the cavity, removable securing means for positively maintaining the cap in closing position, interfitting means on the cap and weight whereby the cap in closing position holds the weight against swinging movement, spring means adapted to force the cap out of engagement with the weight-upon release of the cap, a frangible ampule secured to the ball normally spaced from adjacent fixed portions of the fuse, chemical means in the am-v pule and additional chemical means carried adjacent the ampule, the two chemical means when brought into contact serving to initiate an explosion of the grenade, the size relationship. between the weight and its closing cavity being such that the weight upon release may move sulficiently to swing the ampule against adjacent fixed portions of the fuse and break the ampule to release its contents.

EDWARD M. SHINKLE. 

